It’s taken a while, but Qantas has now launched Points Club. The first inductees into the club are now seeing their status when logged in.
Points Club was first announced in a raft of changes announced by Qantas Frequent Flyer last year. Aimed at those that earned a large number of points “on the ground” it was set to unlock a range of Qantas benefits.
Initially, the new Points Club was set to launch in late 2019. Qantas has recently updated their website to state that it will be coming in 2020.
Qantas Points Club levels
As previously advised, there are two levels to Point Club. The qualification levels are as follows:
- Points Club: In order to join at this level, you will need to earn 150,000 Qantas Points per year. Of those points, only 20,000 points can come from flying. In order to get to 150,000, you will need to earn the rest “on the ground”. In addition, only 125,000 points will be counted from any individual transaction.
- Points Club Plus: A step up from Points Club. This will require 350,000 Qantas Points per year. The same limitations on where you earn points apply
What will it get you?
In return for earning those points, Qantas has promised flight and travel benefits.
The ability to earn status credits on award bookings is an interesting feature. It calls back to the days when you could earn points on such bookings through the Any Seat Award process.
The Status Credit for award flights doesn’t seem to match any of the existing tables – there appears to be a new set of tables for Points Club.
As an example, the tables for domestic flights are:
| Points Club Status Credit earn on Qantas marketed Classic Flight Rewards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Economy (X) |
Premium Economy (Z) |
Business (U) |
|
| Domestic Australia short flights (0 to 750 miles) | 7 | 10 | 16 |
| Domestic Australia medium flights (751 to 1,500 miles) | 11 | 15 | 24 |
| Domestic Australia long flights (1,501 and over miles) | 15 | 20 | 32 |
Economy slots in a little under discount economy. Business, however, earns less than half of the equivalent cash fare.
Further information on status credit earn may be found on the website.
Who is it for?
The Points Club is mainly aimed at those that generate a lot of points on the ground, but don’t do a lot of flying. Examples of such people might include small business people that can generate a lot of points through credit card spend.
Given the businesses that award points, such as banks, buy their points from Qantas, these people can provide Qantas with a significant revenue stream. As such, it seems reasonable for Qantas to offer some additional benefits to these members.
For further information, refer to the Qantas website
